Signaling-torpedo



W. T. McCULLOUGH.

SIGNALING TORPEDO.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 26. [9H].

1,337,240. Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

W IIII SS 7?, E'Of/wor WILLIAM T. MOCULLOUGH, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

SIGNALING-TORPEDO.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 20, 1920.

Application filed February 26, 1918. Serial No. 219,222.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM T. MoCUL- LOUGH, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Signaling-Torpedoes, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to signaling torpedoes, primarily that type of torpedo employed on railroad tracks for the purpose of signaling or notifying the crew of oncoming train that there is danger ahead or that the train is approaching a danger zone, and has for its object to provide a torpedo of such class with means, in a manner as hereinafter set forth, to prevent the tread of the wheel from shifting the explosive charge from the rail-head and to furthermore utilize the tread of the wheel to act as a means to retain the explosive charge in position, so that the latter will be exploded and under such conditions overcoming misexplosion.

A further object of the invention is to provide a signaling torpedo for the purpose set forth including a carrier for the explosive charge, said carrier being set up in a manner as hereinafter set forth, whereby the tread of the wheel will be utilized to bind the carrier upon the tread of the rail during the travel of the wheel, thereby preventing the deflection or shifting of the explosive charge under such conditions overcoming any possibility of misexplosion.

Further objects of the invention are to provide a torpedo for the purpose set forth, which is simple in its construction and arrangement, durable, efficient in its use readily set up with respect to the track-raif and having short retaining strips and comparatively inexpensive to manufacture.

YVith the foregoing and other objects in view this invention consists of the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts, as hereinafter more specifically described and illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein is shown an embodiment of the invention, but it is to be understood that changes, variations and modifications can be resorted to which fall within the scope of the claims hereunto appended.

In the drawings wherein like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is an isometrical view of a trackrail showing the adaptation therewith of a torpedo in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional View of the torpedo.

Fig. 3 is a detail, broken away, of a retaining strip.

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the blank from which the carrier is formed.

Fig. 5 is an inverted plan, broken away, of the torpedo, illustrating a modified form of the retaining strip.

Referring to the drawings in detail 1 denotes the base 2 the web and 3 the head of a trackrail, and upon the latter is secured through the medium of a retaining strip or strips a signaling torpedo, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 1.

The signaling torpedo consists of a carrier comprising an inner-section 4, and an outer section 5, which are integral with respect to each other as at 6, and one is arranged over the other, with the edges of one flush with the other. The carrier is in the shape of a parallelogram, that is to say, a quadrilateral figure. The carrier is preferably formed of fibrous material, but it is obvious that it can be constructed of any suitable material. The outer section 5, is offset as at 7, to provide a pocket 8, which is convex in cross-section. The off-set portion 7, provides a seat 9, and arranged against said seat is a closure 10, for the pocket 8, the latter having arranged therein an explosive charge 11.

The outer section 5, at diametrically opposed points is provided with a rectangular slot 12.

The carrier is secured in position upon the tread of the head 3, as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, by a pair of oppositely extending retaining strips 13, formed of soft metal or any other suitable material. Each of said strips 13, has a head 14;, which is arranged between the sections 4, 5, and which is of greater length than the width of the strip proper, the latter extending through a slot 12, and bent around the head 3, under such conditions maintaining the carrier in position. The heads 14, prevent the pulling out of the strips 13, from the carrier.

The carrier is sealed at its edges by any suitable impervious material and said carrier may also be coated so that it. can be readily seen when mounted upon the head 3 of the trackrail.

The closure 10, is also slotted, as well as the slots 12, after the strips 13, are extended therethrough.

In the modified form shown in Fig. 5, the construction is similar to that referred to in connection with Figs. 1 and 2, with this exception that a single retaining strip is employed, which is indicated at 15, and which extends across the inner face of the section 5, through the slots 12, and has its endljs bent arc-and the head 3, of the trackrai The blank from which the carrier is formed is illustrated at 16, Fig. 4, and consists 0t two oppositely extending portions, which are in the form of a parallelogram, said blank being bent centrally so that the portions 17, 18, thereof are superposed relatively to each other.

The carrier is positioned upon the head 3, whereby the pointed ends thereof will be disposed centrally of the tread of the head 3, so that as the wheel of the car or engine travels toward the torpedo the tread of the wheel will first engage that pointed end of the carrier which extends toward the on coming train, the tread of the Wheel will engage and bind the carrier on the track rail, the binding action gradually increasing toward the explosive charge under such conditions preventing any possibility of slipping or shifting of the carrier and pie venting misexplosion, even though one or both strips were sheared ofi by the flange of the Wheel.

What I claim is:

1. A signaling torpedo comprising a carrier formed of an inner and an outer section said outer section provided with a pocket, and an explosive charge in said pocket, one of said sections formed integral with the other, and a disk carried by one of said seclions closing said pocket.

2. A signaling torpedo comprising a carrier formed of an inner and outer section said outer section provided with a pocket, and an explosive charge in said of said sections formed integra with the other, a disk carried by one of said sections (:lOSlIl said pocket, and means connected to one 0 said sections for retaining said carrier in position on the trackrail.

3. A signaling torpedo comprising a carrier formed of an inner and outer section said outer section provided with a pocket, and an explosive charge in said pocket, one of said sections formed integral With. the other, and means connected to the outer of said sections for retaining said carrier in position upon the trackrail.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

WILLIAM T. MGOULLOUGH.

lVitnesses:

F. J. Benson), LUELLA H. SIMON.

ocket, one 

